Would students redistribute their grades?

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Would students redistribute their grades?

Coeds asked to do their fair share

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," April 24, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: So, the Young America's Foundation ran their annual GPA redistribution contest against the students to apply the idea of spreading the wealth to their grades. Meaning if your GPA is in the top 10 percent, would you sign a petition to transfer some of your grades to kids with lower marks. Be a patriotic egghead as it were.

Here's some tape on how it went.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your GPA will raise. So, you'll sign it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you in the top 10 percent?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am not. But, I will sign it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your GPA would go down a little bit obviously, but --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why not?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I work hard for my grades.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Each individual has an equal opportunity to get the GPA they desire. There's not tax breaks. There's none of that.

There's no income inequality. We're all provided the same opportunities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Obviously a racist.

So, is it greedy to withhold your grades because you worked hard for them? I mean, how is it really your grade if you took public road to get to school or took the subway to your study group? And is it your grade if your professor drew a salary from public funds?

Worse, how is it your grades when you benefit from 400 years of oppression and patriarchy.

So, in the spirit of Buffett Rule, I have instituted the Gutfeld Rule, which demands that students with the GPA of 3.8 percent or higher slash it by 8 percent, giving that portion to those who deserve their fair share.

I know. I know. You studied hard for those grades. But as a patriotic egghead, isn't it your duty to give up what you really don't need? Trust me. Like President Obama, I know better.

Of course, as in the Buffett Rule, the Gutfeld Rule has to beneficial effect on the economy. It just makes me feel good about making you feel bad.

Andrea, I think this exercise is kind of clever, what they came up with. I mean, because a lot of students, they don't have jobs, they don't pay taxes. They don't understand fair share, other than the fact that it sounds really, really good.

ANDREA TANTAROS, CO-HOST: Yes. It's just like the e-mail forward that people send around sometimes. If you want to explain it to kids, explain it in the sense of grades.

It's a great way to put it. I was a 99 percenter when it came to that, especially in algebra. So, I would have taken the grades to other students. I like pass/fail, though, personally. Did you like that pass/fail?

GUTFELD: I never -- I was too old for pass/fail. They didn't --

TANTAROS: You never had a pass/fail class?

GUTFELD: Never had a pass/fail. I was just passed out, but I never had a pass/fail.

Bob, you have an interesting look on your face. Would you be for grade redistribution, spreading the GPA around as it were?

BOB BECKEL, CO-HOST: Listen, to get my grade up it would have taken the student body to give me all of their grades in order to get it up.

Now, listen, the idea is to equate this with taxes and make more money. You should give more of it away. The GPAs don't have anything to do with war or spending money or government, or anything, the rest of it. So, I think I get the motion of about what you're trying to do here but I think it's just silly. Of course, you shouldn't give up your grade. I mean, if I gave up my grades --

TANTAROS: It's a perfect example.

ERIC BOLLING, CO-HOST: Of course it is. Exactly perfect.

BECKEL: No, it's not.

BOLLING: You work hard and earn money and the government says I want a piece of it. If you work hard, you study hard and the teacher, in this example, would say, I want a piece of your good grade and give it to people who --

BECKEL: Yes. But, you know, the government uses it for good things.

BOLLING: For whatever reason, weren't gifted enough to get good grades.

BECKEL: If that's the best analogy you can do, you fail.

BOLLING: It's class warfare in the classroom, whereas Obama and Warren Buffett are doing it in business.

GUTFELD: I mean, think about it. When I was talking about it, Dana, in my brilliant monologue, by the way, which you said earlier was probably the best one you've ever heard -- I mention that your grade is not your grade if you use anything public. Which is kind of the same argument, if you take the bus to class, technically the government helps you. So, isn't that argument genius?

DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: Well, you can make the argument about everything, though.

GUTFELD: That's what I'm saying.

PERINO: OK. So, like, yes, so brilliant. And not obvious one at all.

Imagine how mad the parents would be, like you pay for the tuition, you're making sure that that kids, like, you know, maybe there is a bonus school that if you get an "A," you'll get X, Y, or Z for Christmas. And how mad would the parents be to find out that the kid gave away some of their grade point average?

But also -- and I know you would haven't done this, you would not have taken the grades. The fact that we have kids today who would actually accept somebody else's grades to help their own, that, I think is --

TANTAROS: Dana, I was proud, I was so proud of my C-minus or maybe D- plus in algebra, you're right. I earned that D-plus.

PERINO: You know, I promise you, you would have taken it.

GUTFELD: Bob, you're raising your hand. You would have taken it.

BECKEL: Yes.

PERINO: I said Andrea. I'm technically looking with eye contact.

GUTFELD: But it doesn't have to be grades. It could be any kind of talent that you have.

BECKEL: But grades or not make government go. They don't pay for the military, this analogy.

GUTFELD: No. But grades end up getting you the job that gets the money that goes --

PERINO: And that it helps you graduate so that you can actually then get a job.

BECKEL: We're not going to talk about the school that makes you not get in the Ivy League School?

GUTFELD: You want me to talk about it?

BECKEL: We can't because we're out of time.

GUTFELD: Are you sure?

BECKEL: Yes, that's what they told me.

GUTFELD: I could do it as the one more thing.

BECKEL: Save it for tomorrow.

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